Theatre/Music

Performances Sept. 7 and 8

Press release:

Burien Little Theatre presents the rip-roaring pirate play “Bold Grace: The Voyages of the Pirate O’Malley”, written by Ashley Schalow, in two pay-what-you-will fundraiser performances on Friday, Sept. 7 and Saturday, Sept. 8.

The real Grace lived a very full life, including pirating up and down the Irish coast, leading an army of 200 loyal fighting men and her own fleet of ships, two marriages, four children (one born while Grace was at sea), and even a documented face-to-face meeting with Queen Elizabeth I.

Beginning with her first voyage with her father at the age of nine, Grace relives key points in her life until her death in 1603. Under the direction of Steve Cooper, Anna Richardson is so spellbinding as Grace you will swear you can feel the salt air on your face.
This show is suitable for ages 12-plus due to some adult language.

The producer is seeking actors to portray two male characters 30s to 50s and four female characters late 20s to 70s. Actors of all ethnicities are encouraged to audition.
Synopsis: Jean is sleepwalking through her life until she answers a dead stranger’s cell phone. It turns out to be a wake-up call that sends her on a date with the dead man's brother, a drinking binge with his wife, a mysterious rendezvous with his mistress, and a trip to the afterlife and back.

This film noir-tinged surreal comedy by playwright Sarah Ruhl, Pulitzer-Prize finalist for her play The Clean House, traces one woman's accidental quest to make a few people feel a little bit better about themselves.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone is also about how we memorialize the dead and how that remembering changes us, and the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her own assumptions about morality, redemption, and the need to connect in a technologically obsessed world.

Latino Theatre Projects and Burien Little Theatre are joining forces to present their co-production of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Anna in the Tropic, written by Nilo Cruz, opening Aug. 3.

Tropical heat and “Anna Karenina” combine to spark rich fantasies and broken dreams, passion and adultery, and a Cuban family changed forever! In English.

This show is suitable for ages 13-plus due to some adult themes and content.
Anna in the Tropics will be performed at Burien Little Theatre from opening night on Aug. 3 through Aug. 26. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Ticket prices range from $7 to $20. Check out special opening weekend ticket deals. For tickets or information, go online
to www.latinotheatreprojects.org, www.burienlittletheatre.org or call 206-242-5180.

Description: Rediscover the fun of singing by joining ChoralSounds Northwest (CSN). New members are especially welcome to this Burien-based mixed-voice adult chorus that performs traditional choral music as well as new arrangements with a decidedly theatrical style. Be a part of the exciting renaissance of Burien’s own ChoralSounds Northwest, under the gifted direction of new Artistic Director Brian J. Winnie.

CSN’s 2012-13 season will include four concert runs, including the return of a Masterworks Performance in June which includes John Rutter’s Requiem and Gloria, as well as the popular Christmas and Spring concerts.

Admission Fee: Membership dues for singers are $60 for the quarter. Scholarships are available.

07/25/2012

Good seats available

The Hi-Liners press release:

Performance Dates
July 13-15 at the Burien Annex. Get map and directions at www.hi-liners.org. All Seats $10 — All Seats Reserved. G-rated productions featuring performers age 7-15.

About Into the Woods, Jr.
An engaging and funny musical comedy that twists familiar fairy tales into a brand new story. When a Baker and his Wife learn they've been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell; swindling, deceiving and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk)!

As a child, Golda Meir, knowing the fear of pogroms in Russia, dreamed of a homeland for her people in Palestine. Her dream became a reality in 1921.

Golda's continued commitment to her land and to her people was the paragon of human dedication. Her complete involvement, tempered with love, fired by fierce devotion, and a wonderful sense of humor, caused the world to know that she was a true mover of mountains.

Joan Wolfberg, as Golda, takes the audience from the pogroms of Russia, to Milwaukee, to Denver, to Palestine...and finally to "life in state of our own"...Israel...as Prime Minister.

At the end of this program, Wolfberg will stays n character and answer questions posed to her about Golda, and her life.

01/05/2012

When most people think of Christmas, they can't help of think of the Charles Dickens classic 'A Christmas Carol' (I'm fond of the 1940s black and white television version myself), and how little Tiny Tim's plight always makes one cry.

Well, put aside that august version (whether the multiple television remakes, or local, live productions), and get ready to have your laugh buttons pushed to the max with Burien Little Theatre's 'Inspecting Carol,' a hilarious play-within-a-play about a plucky and quirky theatre company that runs into all sorts of obstacles in their attempt to resurrect not only the classic, but the financially broke theatre itself.

PLEASE CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE FOR MORE.

Their 'Scrooge' (played with deft whimsy by Russ Kay (BLT's 'Frankenstein'), is a bit of a diva, who likes to put forth his political views (in this case, the plight of third world peoples, particularly Latin ones) through his role, much to the chagrin of the company's leader, Zora (a delightful, and sweetly naughty Yvette Zaepfel.) Every other member of the company, also, has some sort of problem or complaint; making getting the production staged a comedy of errors.

11/23/2011

Photo credit:

Photos by Mike Wilson

Larry as Scrooge (Russ Kay) is struggling because Walter (Tim Takechi) as the Ghost of Christmas Past can't remember his lines when things go awry during Soapbox Playhouse's production of A Christmas Carol in Burien Little Theatre's comedy Inspecting Carol. PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR MORE

Play synopsis: "Noises Off" meets "Waiting for Guffman"

Press release:

Burien Little Theatre announces auditions for the hilarious holiday comedy "Inspecting Carol," written by Daniel J. Sullivan and The Seattle Repertory Theatre. Characters range in age from teens to 60s.

Synopsis: A sidesplitting holiday hit since premiering at the Seattle Rep in 1992, "Inspecting Carol" is part "Noises Off," part "Waiting for Guffman." Almost broke, Soapbox Theatre Company is struggling to mount their annual cash cow, the holiday classic "A Christmas Carol." An inspector from the National Endowment for the Arts is expected any minute. When a young actor is mistaken for the inspector, cast and crew cater to his every whim to try to win their government funding, The result: the most hilarious and disastrous production of "A Christmas Carol" ever.

Performances and rehearsals are at Burien Little Theatre in Burien from Nov. 25 through Dec. 18, 2011.
Auditions are Tuesday, Aug. 9 and Wednesday, Aug. 10 from 7 to 10 p.m.

It was one heck of a run. After 20 shows and nearly a decade of outrageous comedy, Breeders Theater bid us a fond farewell last March. The winery that was their unique performance venue was being sold, so we in the BT audience sadly said "goodbye and good luck" to Breeders Theater.
Or so we thought.
BT founder TM Sell tells us that when the sale of the E.B. Foote Winery fell through last spring, owner Sherrill Miller informed them that the winery would still be available for another production, if they chose to do that.
So, Sell contacted his troupe of actors and asked who would be interested in doing one more show.
"I took those who responded and wrote a show around them," explains Sell. The wonderful result is "Help Desk," an entertaining story about 5 women and their adventures working in a customer support center.

07/15/2011

There are many talents at Teatro ZinZanni but there’s one who stands out for being equally loved by the audience as she is feared and that’s Ballard’s very own Christine Deaver.

Born and raised in Ballard, Deaver now lives in Los Angeles and works as as an actor, singer, writer, director and voiceover artist. For four months out of the year she comes back to her hometown and performs under the Spiegeltent at Teatro ZinZanni.

In the current production “Hearts on Fire”, Deaver performs as three hilarious and salascious characters.

“I developed three different characters and the umbrella of the characters is that she’s considered the spirit of the party and her overall goal is to bring fun and frivolity to the tent,” Deaver said.

The characters are Penelope Wilde, a crazy psychic; Voluptuous Panic, a German dominatrix; and Juliet in search of Romeo through a game called Elizabethian Elimidates.